U.S. Call on Uzbekistan to Join the Fight against Islamic State Militants

United States has called on Uzbekistan to join multinational coalition fighting the Islamic State militant group.

Uzbekistan has proved to be an important NATO ally assisting in the war against the Taliban movement in the neighbouring Afghanistan.

August 27, 2015, while addressing the reporters, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for Central Asia Daniel Rosenblum, extended the invitation to Uzbekistan during his visit to Tashkent.

Rosenblum urged Uzbekistan to contribute in whatever way they feel citing that the war against Islamic State involves not only a military component but intelligence gathering and efforts to stop the flow of financing to the militant group.

SUMMARY

Uzbekistan is mainly a Muslim nation with a population of 31 million people. The country has been a strategic NATO partner assisting in the war against the Taliban movement waging it campaigns in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Rosenblum noted the importance of strengthening their close ties and better sharing information between the security establishments of the two countries.

He lauded Uzbekistan f progress in eliminating child labor in cotton fields – a practice for which Uzbekistan had strongly been criticized.

He said that more needs to be done to eliminate involuntary adult labor in cotton production, which along with gold production is an important part of Uzbekistan’s economy.

The country need also to do more in the fight against terrorism citing Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) pledged allegiance to the Islamic State leader in the beginning of august.